1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of aggregation services. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate generally to client side credential based deep-linking to a third-party internet based service.
2. Related Art
Bill payment on-line over the Internet has the potential of making the task of paying monthly bills simpler, easier, and more satisfying than the traditional method of paying bills through the mail. Payment of bills over the Internet in the conventional art takes two forms: a bill consolidation model; and a direct billing model. Both of these models unsatisfactorily address the issue of consolidating all the bills of a client at one convenient location for paying bills.
The conventional bill consolidator model comprises a consolidated clearing house, whereupon all the services related to paying bills are accomplished at one location. In general, the bill consolidator goes out and retrieves bills from participating billers for a particular client. In addition, the bill consolidator also processes payments on bills for that client. In the case, where a bill consolidation is provided by a bank, consolidated bills are presented to the client, and the client can provide instructions to the bank to pay specific bills at one location, typically a web site.
While there are many problems associated with a bill consolidation model, the one great advantage is that the bill consolidation model provides a single location for a client to pay bills from various billers. However, problems with a bill consolidation model include costly infrastructure setup, the inability to view details of a bill, a delayed clearing time for payment of a bill, and a single source for payment. These problems overshadow the advantage of consolidation.
In particular, one problem associated with a bill consolidator model is that only those billers that actively participate in the model can send out bills and receive payments on those bills through the bill consolidator model. That is, each biller in the bill consolidator model must set up an electronic payment infrastructure that is compatible with the bill consolidator. Setting up the infrastructure is time consuming and costly for the biller. As such, billers tend not to participate within a bill consolidator model, as additional resources must be expended to ensure compatibility with the bill consolidator.
In addition, in a bill consolidation model, the client does not have an opportunity to view bills in full. That is, the client is presented with a summary of billing information by the bill consolidator. If a client is interested in detailed billing information, the client must reference the paper bill sent through the mail, or call customer service. This is unacceptable in an electronic payment model, as the convenience stems from avoiding sending out bills through the mail. In addition, since the client has set up an electronic payment system with a biller, that biller probably will not duplicate billing by sending out a bill through the mail in an effort to save costs.
Further, in a bill consolidation model, the clearing time for payment of a bill by the bill consolidator is usually delayed. The bill consolidator typically gathers up all the payments for bills to a particular biller, and sends those payments in bulk to reduce costs. As such, payment of a bill of a client to a particular biller may not occur for up to 7 days. In addition, there is no assurance by the biller to a client that a bill has been accepted as paid. That is, there is no immediate feedback from a biller that a bill has been paid. Thus, last minute payments are usually avoided in a bill consolidation model.
Moreover, in a bill consolidation model, there is only a single funding source for the payment of a bill. For example, bill consolidation that is provided by a bank will channel payments through the bank. As such, a client paying bills through the bank's bill consolidation model must carry an account at the bank (e.g., a checking account) and make all payments through that account. Other forms of payment are not allowed, such as, a credit card payment. As such, a client cannot choose which multiple forms of payment to pay a bill in a bill consolidation model.
The second form of electronic payment of bills is the direct billing model. Billers understand the benefits of switching to electronic payments, such as, decreased billing costs, advertisement opportunities, etc. As such, individual billers have developed their own web sites for clients to pay bills electronically. In the direct billing model, one biller allows their clients to pay bills electronically at one location. While there are many advantages to the direct billing model, the one great disadvantage that overshadows the advantages is that the direct billing model does not provide consolidation.
The direct billing model has many advantages for clients over the bill consolidation model. For example, in the direct billing model, a client can view richer billing information. The biller can provide entire billing information for a client because they are only focusing one billing account, of which the biller has full access, for a client. In addition, the client can dispute bills over the direct billing model. Also, in the direct billing model, the client can get immediate confirmation of payments because the biller has the authorization by the client to receive payment from a pre-authorized account. As a result, last minute payments are possible.
However, the disadvantage to the direct billing model is that there is no consolidation of a bills to a particular client. As a result, in order to pay bills from a variety of billers, a client must deal with each biller separately to make an electronic payment. That is, the client must log onto the first direct biller's site to make a payment on a first bill. Then, after completion of the first transaction, the client must log onto a second direct biller's site to make a payment on a second bill. This process continues for all the bills to be paid electronically at the various direct billing sites for the various billers.
As a result, the bill consolidation model is too focused on payments only and cannot provide the richness of billing information desired by a client when reviewing and paying bills. Also, the direct billing model is severely limited by providing billing services only to a single account.